Marriage Planet

[cityship]

Stacy's voice came over the comm, blaring across the entire ship.

||Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention, all personnel...||

The mouth in the main sculpture on Obs Deck opened, revealing a screen with the image of a mottled blue and purple planet, rotating slowly.

Planet Designation: Gondepetil
Status: Terrestrial, H-class. Mass slightly larger than most Earths.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Yes.
Water: 88% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Similar to Earth's Mediterranean climate. Warm but hospitable.  [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: Short trees and scrubs. Most mountains are plateaus, terrain is hilly and rocky on 65% of the land surface.
Air: Normoxic concentration: 25% oxygen, 65% nitrogen, 5% xenon, 5% trace gases, such as hydrogen, neon, krypton, and argon.

Air Pressure: 17.02 pounds per square inch. Heavier than ship's air pressure, but breathable.
Sky: Blue/purple with silver clouds.
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star. The planet is unusually close to its sun, but its ozone layer is fully capable of filtering out harmful radiation.

Mission: Spiritual elders of the local inhabitants are in possession of an artifact of great importance to the war against the Ohm. The crew will participate in the inhabitants' rituals of judgment and joining to enter the region known as the Sacred Mount, where the artifact is being stored. The crew is to negotiate with the spiritual elders to acquire this artifact. The crew is expected to comply with any of their demands in order to successfully complete negotiations.

Time for another mission, then.

Comments

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph watches the exchange, then plops down on the other side of Aang. She socks him in the shoulder. Hard.

Consider it her version of a snuggly hug.

"Yeah. Sokka's right. She's been weird, but I figured it was just because we were here." She stomps her crystal-slippers on the ground to emphasize her point. "I don't think it has anything to do with you, Aang, and the rest of us aren't going anywhere."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

It helped. It helped to have his friends here. The bro-hugging helped. Toph's punch helped. Mai's words especially helped. Even Zuko's complete social fail helped, because Aang knew him well enough by now to know he meant well. He was just...being Zuko.

It took a little bit to calm his breathing down, even if his eyes were still teary.

"Is there any point at all during all this where's it not going to be like, 'Hey, Aang, everything going to stop making sense the moment things start making sense!'" he asked, sniffling, leaning his staff upright against his leg to throw his hands in the air. "'You're the Avatar, Aang, you have to leave home, oh no, a storm! You're frozen! It's a hundred years later, and you have to restore balance to the world. Oh no, there's a comet! Someone's an enemy and chasing you, now they're a friend! There's no way you can win this--you've won! You and your friends have restored balance to the world, now everything can be at peace. Oh no, a skyship! Your world's gone, you might be able to get it back, part of your memory's been erased, there's a horrible nightmare spirit you have to stay trapped to fight, you're free, you're in mazes chasing cake, you're free again, you're asleep, you're awake,' and now, now it's 'your girlfriend left for someone else after just a few months!'"

They are only seeing this because they're his friends, and because yes, even he of the infinite patience occasionally needs to flip a table now and again, even if he did it in the mildest way possible.

"Is it too much to ask for things to stop being all crazy and changing for just a day? One day! Just one!"

It wasn't just the hurt feelings. It was that nothing ever seemed to settle. Even a nomad needed a place to rest his hat now and again, and sometimes liked to see the world go still and stay the same one day to the next.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

. . . well don't look at Zuko to say something comforting. He feels appropriately bad now, and has gotten the idea that this might be the right time to keep his mouth shut.

Except to say - "Sorry."

[knifeurrib.livejournal.com]

Mai doesn't really have anything she can say to that tirade. So she simply stands her ground and waits. She'll say something when she needs to.

[theregularguy.livejournal.com]

Sokka just hangs on tighter.

"I know. I know how you feel," okay he doesn't, "but we've just gotta keep going. We're here, and we're not gonna change. I promise. We're here to back you up and everything. We're your friends."

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Aang wiped at his face with his robes.

"I know, Sokka. I know you're here for me. And I appreciate it, but I think I need some time alone. To meditate."

And probably cry some more.

Gratitude was in his gaze, though, as he looked at them all, and yes, it was there even when he looked at Zuko.

"I just need to go be with Appa for a bit."

Carefully shrugging off Sokka's hug in a way that made it clear he wasn't rejecting the hug outright, and climbing to his feet, he picked up his staff. He understood they were here, and he was grateful, but sometimes he really did need some alone time with his bison and his own thoughts, and this was one of them.

"If Katara comes looking for me...tell her I don't feel like talking right now, and that I won't for a little while."

He didn't want to be angry, he didn't want to be upset or say anything he regretted, that might hurt her feelings, even if he was hurt. He wanted to be calm.

And when he was able to find that calm again, then they needed to talk.